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Old 09-03-2009, 11:54 AM   #16
j_jerry
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Distribution: fedora 11
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Show me something else more customizable
 
Old 09-04-2009, 10:35 AM   #17
iphigenie
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Registered: Aug 2009
Location: IDLE, UK
Distribution: Slackware
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I havent switched - On the server I am clearly BSD and Linux, but on the desktop I keep trying, but it is hard to compete with windows. Not because of windows, but because over 10 years I have accumulated a set of programs that work the way I want to work, and reproducing this on linux takes time, and seems at times impossible unless I invest a lot. Oh, and games, but wine is getting so good that might no longer be

Each time I eventually get mired in the amount of choices to make (from everything to configuring sound to all kinds of apps) and not finding the right tools and the multitude of conflicting desktops, lack of documentation and arrogance in parts of the community (try asking "I am looking for an app that does x with features y and z" in some places - some choices seem outright religious for too many people), and I give up and go back to windows.

But obviously I keep trying, because I like the control and flexibility, I like the free software philosophy (but not exclusive about it, would love more shareware on linux too)

I'm in that cycle this time again

GNU/Linux pluses:
+ the freedom to tinker
+ the unix "lego" philosophy (i.e. pipes and co)
+ lots of choices
+ bash and other shells
+ command line + gui keyboard operation
+ media playing that works out of the box
+ networking that works out of the box
+ did i say lots of choices already?
+ many communities are great

GNU/Linux minuses:
+ too much fragmentation - lack of documentation or nice overview of all available options
+ a lot of projects are unfinished, rough around the edges, scratch-a-programmers-itch, (and not particularly welcoming to people
willing to help document the gaps or polish things)
+ xorg is a monster to get one's head around
+ drivers can be a huge mess (mind, on windows too)
+ some communities are very cliqu-ey and unhelpful to newbies

and since this is the mobile forum: LACK OF DEVICES!!!!

Last edited by iphigenie; 09-04-2009 at 10:55 AM. Reason: more detail
 
Old 09-08-2009, 01:57 PM   #18
jstephens84
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Location: Nashville
Distribution: Manjaro, RHEL, CentOS
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I switched to linux because I started with AIX when I was 20 working at a casino and was intrigued at how I could string commands along. it was when I installed slackware I started seeing things that I could do here that I just could not do with Windows. However I sometimes still find things that I can only get done in windows but that is do to certain apps not being available. However as of today I only switch to windows when I want to play the casual game or two.

I also switched because it is my favorite development environment. I am one of those who will swear by vi. It is just small tools like that, that make me enjoy and stay with linux.

And last but not least, hardware. Yes it does not work with all hardware, but what hardware it does work with it does so pretty well.
 
Old 09-11-2009, 05:27 AM   #19
business_kid
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Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Distribution: Slackware, Slarm64 & Android
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In 1993, someone sent me a link for a tester for CIH virus. It was a little over a meg, so on a whim, I downloaded it. On another whim, I ran it on April 23rd, and found 175 copies of CIH virus between my computer and (then) very expensive company laptop. CIH overwrites the flash bios on April 26th. Subsequent investigation revealed one of my kids had it dcc'ed to him on irc, and didn't know viruses came that way.
Moving the Internet to linux was a no-brainer. Then I realised all the software was free, better in most cases for what I wanted, and nothing crashed/
 
Old 10-27-2009, 05:55 AM   #20
miltonhork
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Registered: Oct 2009
Posts: 3

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Linux is technically advanced,Linux is highly customizable,Linux is secure,There are numerous chat rooms, mailing lists and discussion forums with many knowledgeable people who can help you with your problems.
 
Old 10-27-2009, 04:56 PM   #21
stoggy
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Registered: Jun 2008
Location: Dallas, TX
Distribution: Slackware and FC
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I switched in '96 cause windows 95 sucked. Then i learned to script, bash and perl.

Maybe someday windoze will offer 1/2 the stuff I get done in linux but till then I'm not paying for crippled software. As far as I am concerned Windoze is still playing catch-up.


Plus I didn't really know what my computer was doing until I started using Linux.
 
Old 10-27-2009, 07:26 PM   #22
smeezekitty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stoggy View Post
I switched in '96 cause windows 95 sucked. Then i learned to script, bash and perl.
hate to say but in 1996 you had a choice of sucky windows 95 or sucky linux.
now you have a choice of horrable vista, not that good windows 7 and good linux.
 
Old 10-28-2009, 10:18 AM   #23
stoggy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smeezekitty View Post
hate to say but in 1996 you had a choice of sucky windows 95 or sucky linux.
now you have a choice of horrable vista, not that good windows 7 and good linux.
I have never used Vista or Windows 7. So I have no opinion of them.


What sucked about linux in '96? In 13 years of using Linux it has never crashed on me. X has died, apps have cored, but never a complete crash. I have borked it quite a few times. I support AIX/Linux now so I have seen some cores...but none at home.


Ok, it didnt support usb or P2s, but no one had them either. hell amd wasn't even around in '96. Have you ever heard of Cyrix? They are located here in Dallas.

Unless you mean "sucky" relatively. But of course then linux still sucks because in 13 years the linux today will suck.

You should go grab a copy of slackware 3.1. I think that was the newest slackware in '96. I think Redhat 7 was out, it sucked. I don't remember what SuSE or debian(*Debian will always suck*). I learned on Mandrake and Slackware. I used slackware because that is what my friend showed me but coming from windows there was a lot of stuff I didn't know and couldn't get done. So I used Mandrake as sort of an example.

Now I don't understand why, but it was so hard for me to wrap my head around the daemon and the config file. I mean its just a ini file and a program but that part was hard for me. Maybe it was the /etc/rc.d/ files, the /etc/*.conf files, /var/pid, and so on that was confusing me. All those files in different places and files that all have to work together for programs to run. Ah memories.

Remember www.LinuxDocumentation.org ? I think that was the name.
Oh or tucows.com ?


I guess i don't understand your point. Unless you mean to say that because someday it will suck you shouldn't do it today or tomorrow or the next day or the day after that or next week or the week after that or next month or ...
 
Old 10-28-2009, 10:49 AM   #24
jomen
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Location: Leipzig/Germany
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1996/1997 I got a computer with win95 from a friend who was away for half a year.
Internet at University - none at home.
Things where saved to floppies and taken home.
It took 3 days for the computer being infected so badly that I actually had to learn how to re-do the OS.
Of course some programs that came along when it was new I could not find easily but managed.
Took me a long time because I had never really used a computer before.
While I searched about info how to fix windows I stumbled upon linux.
I fixed the computer and never touched it again.
A year later I bought my first real computer - and installed linux (some early Debian).
Windows was present until 5 or 6 years ago, but only ever used to play some games.
I never really switched to linux - I always have been using it as my main OS.
 
Old 11-03-2009, 08:26 AM   #25
mikecahill
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Location: Castleford, West Yorks, England
Distribution: ubuntu
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I think the final straw was "windows genuine advantage" and the (snotty) attitude of the "helpline" staff. I still have xp, and vista on other machines, but gradually I am using them less as I find linux alternatives to windows programs
 
Old 11-03-2009, 04:21 PM   #26
JoshGriffin
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Location: Denver
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I've been working in a Windows Environment for most of my life, so I've been a Windows fan up to about a year ago. At my last job I was forced to learn linux in a server environment. From there I migrated my personal web server from Win2003 to Fedora 10. I liked having linux on my web server much more than a Windows server, even without a gui. A few months ago I researched and saw that Linux was very polished now as a desktop and thought I'd take the plunge again (tried it with Fedora 4 and couldn't grasp it). I'm currently running Fedora 11 on my laptop. That said here are the reasons I like it:

Desktop Environment
1. Windows 7. A while ago MS released a statement saying that they want to release a new version of Windows more frequently. I'm guessing that means the lifespan of each MS OS will be shorter. Why should I upgrade Windows every 2 or 3 years when I can use linux which is Open Source.
2. Linux can do everything I can do on Windows.
3. Stable.
4. More customizable.
5. Uses MUCH less resources.
6. Don't have to worry about viruses.
7. Don't have to worry about programs installing or leaving things behind that will bog my system down.
8. No need to defragment.

Server
1. I never have to touch it. I just runs, no restarts.
2. Manage almost everything via web browser. (webmin - open source)
3. Easy backups. (mondoarchive - open source)
4. No need to defragment. Great since I have a fair amount of hard drive space on the server, which is holding a large amount of videos.
5. Uses MUCH less resources.

Edit: I agree with mikecahill. MS will no longer nag me about making sure my Windows is legit every few months. And install all kinds of extra crap to make sure it is legit, or other things that is not necessary.

Now I just need to get linux on my wife's laptop.

~JoshGriffin

Last edited by JoshGriffin; 11-03-2009 at 04:24 PM.
 
Old 11-17-2009, 02:21 AM   #27
rody45
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Registered: Oct 2008
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Bill Gates has enough money !
 
Old 11-17-2009, 03:15 AM   #28
atelszewski
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Registered: Aug 2007
Distribution: Slackware
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1. Running Linux is like driving a car, you have full control and everything depends on you.
2. To solve problems in Linux you use google, to solve problems in Windows you use format.
3. I use computer mainly for C/C++ programming (especially for AVR micros) and Linux is enough for that purpose.
4. Windows, when needed, only in VirtualBox.
 
Old 01-22-2010, 10:08 AM   #29
honeybadger
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Location: India
Distribution: Slackware (mainly) and then a lot of others...
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For me this is easy. I did not have a winduhs xp install cd . I am so thankful to some friends who did not give me one of their pirated cds ).
One of my friends then gave me a Knoppix 5.1 cd and I was astonished at the power I had in my hands and I have not looked back since.
I have 2 desktops and 1 laptop and all of them run Linux. As far as I am concerned nothing coming out of M$ will thouch my computer again.
 
Old 01-22-2010, 11:39 AM   #30
Joe of Loath
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rody45 View Post
Bill Gates has enough money !
Says the guy posting from a windows machine...
 
  


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